The Power of Venus
by hersheyman
Summary: The third part of the Mina Aino: Witch in Training saga.  With evil seemingly unbeatable, the question is- what is holding Mina back?  Review


Mina ran her hands through the sink water and splashed it in her face. She was still avoiding her mother, but sooner or later she would have to confront her.

As Mina reached for a towel to dry her face she attention turned to her reflection. It wore a bow oin its hair like Mina did when she transformed and a golden tiara with a glowing orange jewel on the front.

It was also glaring at her.

Mina felt her forehead and the back of her head for the tiara and bow. Neither was on her actual person.

She took a towel and rubbed her face with it. When her face was dry she looked over the towel at her reflection again.

It had not changed at all, right down to the glare.

"What are you looking at?" she asked the mirror.

Her reflection still glared at her.

"_What?"_

"Mina!" she heard her mother call. "Where are all your things?"

'Damn.' Mina thought. Her mother must have gone into her room to help her unpack. Of course Mina had not brought her luggage home. Neither she nor her mother would be staying in their apartment for another night.

Mina sighed. This confrontation had to happen some point that day. It had to be then.

"Mina?"

"Coming, mother!" she called back. Mina took one last look at her reflection.

The tiara was replaced by the crescent moon symbol she usually had. She and her reflection now wore the same mask. And her reflection had the same expression she had again.

'Lets get this over with.'/

"I've changed my mind. I don't believe you."

Vernon Dursely and his wife and son had been so shell shocked by the arrival of no less than six adult witches and wizards with their former ward Harry Potter that they had initially agreed to everything they were told to do without question.

But now that the initial shock of the house invasion had worn off, and that Mad-Eye Moody was upstairs supervising Dudley while he packed, "sense" returned to Vernon Dursely.

"This Voldything isn't real."

"I lived here for thirteen years because he killed my parents." Harry said, completely unsurprised by this reaction. "He's real enough."

"But he's dead. The giant bloke said he was."

"He's back."

"So why would he come here? You don't live here anymore."

"While I lived here this house was protected. He couldn't come. Now that he's back he'll come after me. The fact that I lived here at all, that we're related at all, means he'll target you to get to me."

"You know what I think, boy? I think this is a plot to get the house."

"When you see where we're going you'll understand none of us have any need for this place."

"What about my job?"

"Get this through your head. Voldemort will kidnap you to get me out in the open. He will torture you and your family, and then he will kill you when he has no more need for you."

"And you want us to just go off and live with-with your kind?"

"You think I'm happy about living in the same house as you again?"

"Dad," came the voice of Dudley Dursely from the stairs. He was hauling his trunk down to the living room, followed by the grizzled Moody.

"Dad, I want to go with them."

The edges of Harry's lips twitched upwards. He could practically see Moody talking to Dudley as he packed, describing in intricate detail the horrors of the cruciatis curse.

"Your kid's got more brains then you, Dursely." Moody said, his normal eye on Dudley while his magical eye traveled to the head of the Dursely family.

"Um, all right." he said meekly, backing away from the eye./

Mina had told Dumbledore she wanted to handle this task alone, and he had understood. But now she was regretting that decision. All she wanted to do was run away and leave the job to someone else. She would even fight Voldemort again if given the choice rather than do what she was about to do. That it was for her mother's own protection made little difference.

The voice of Beryl had been repeating itself in her head ever since she got back from the graveyard.

_Your love is forever doomed to fail._

The door to her room was open, and her mother was standing outside it.

"There you are. Took your time. Where is your lug-Mina, what is up with what you're wearing?"

Mina's mother had never seen her in her transformed state before. She was in it at that moment because after observing how it affected her magic Dumbledore had said that she became so much more powerful that the trace placed on underage wizards would not recognize her.

"Mina, talk to me."

There was a lot of things Mina wanted to say, starting with "sorry." But to speak would break her resolve.

Slowly, she raised her wand, until it was pointing directly at her mother's face.

"Mina! What are you doing! Put that thing away!"

A single tear fell from each eye as Mina cast the spell.

"Obliviate."/

_I'm not sure why people think Voldemort is now so unbeatable. I think he's now a legitimate threat even at her best which he wouldn't be with his original powers. That's why I don't think I'll ever do a crossover where Harry Potter meets Magik from the X-Men, even though that seems like fanfiction 101. She'd destroy Voldemort's armies and Voldemort by herself while the order sat back and ate popcorn. It wouldn't make a good story._

_I don't want to talk about the other scouts now, because whatever I say will be giving away too much. If you want to see me write about all the scouts check out "In the Shadow of a Hero." I could use more feedback on that story. At some point I'll be able to provide an explanation of where they've been, but not yet._

_Also, I'm not sure I'll stay with this title._


End file.
